JP2009246481A - Voice output apparatus and voice output method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a voice output technique which can respond to increase of a mixing coefficient, while maintaining a Mixer logic maintained. <P>SOLUTION: A voice output apparatus includes a reading out unit which reads out the mixing coefficient for an extended channel from an exterior, a setting unit which sets the read out mixing coefficient, and a mixing processing unit which performs extended mixing processing using the established mixing coefficient. A voice output method has the mixing coefficient read out for the extended channel from the exterior, set the read out mixing coefficient, and perform the extended mixing processing using the established mixing coefficient. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an audio output device that performs audio reproduction corresponding to, for example, multiple channels exceeding 5.1 channels, and more particularly to an extended audio mixing processing method.

  As is well known, in recent years, an optical disk such as a DVD (digital versatile disk) has become widespread as a digital recording medium. At present, there is also a next-generation DVD standard compatible with high-definition that enables higher-density recording than DVD.

  By the way, in this type of next-generation optical disc, new formats such as DTS (digital theater system) -HD (high definition) and dolby true HD have been developed for audio recording. In this new format, the content creator can freely set the number of channels for audio playback.

  On the other hand, the audio playback system used in the current general home theater system is mainly used for 5.1 channel audio playback. For this reason, when playback of an audio channel exceeding 5.1 channels is required, the request cannot be accurately met, and the audio playback intended by the content creator cannot be performed. It is. The challenges were as follows.

  In the next-generation audio compression system, the number of channels is expanded from the conventional 5.1ch. In the HD DVD standard, it is possible to record up to 7.1ch audio, and various speaker arrangements can be assigned to the extended 2ch.

● Speaker layout example that can be assigned to 2 expansion
Lc / Rc: Front Left / Right Center
Lw / Rw: Front Left / Right Wide
Lh / Rh / Ch: Front Left / Right / Center Height
Lb / Rb: Rear Left / Right Surround Back
Cs: Center Surround Back
Ts: Top Surround
However, the mixing process of Main / Sub / Effect audio in the current player is fixed (Lb / Rb), and there is a problem that the mixing process can be performed only after channel relocation processing (to Lb / Rb) is performed is there.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 provides a surround sound mixing apparatus and program capable of mixing surround sound at various listening positions as an outline, and a data input means, sound image calculation means, and angle parameter information addition means. And distance information adding means and audio output calculating means.

  However, there is still a problem to provide a surround sound mixing device and a program that can mix surround sound at various listening positions without changing the installation position of the microphone or complicated adjustment of the mixing device.

In other words, it is necessary to provide a mixing coefficient for each speaker by further expanding the arrangement of multiple speakers, but the increase in mixing coefficient also directly affects the mixer logic. There will be an increase in the number of expanded speakers, and there is a problem that a 12.1ch mixer must be provided (for example, if five types of speakers are additionally expanded).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-223771

  An object of the present invention is to provide an audio output technology that can cope with an increase in mixing coefficient while maintaining a mixer logic.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an audio output device according to the present invention includes a reading unit that reads an external channel mixing coefficient, a setting unit that sets the read mixing coefficient, and the set mixing coefficient. And a mixing processing unit for performing an extended mixing process using the above.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain an audio output technique that can cope with an increase in the mixing coefficient while maintaining the mixer logic.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

Embodiment 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, in the next-generation audio compression method, the number of channels is expanded from the conventional 5.1ch, but there are various definitions regarding the speaker arrangement of the expanded channels. Normally, Lb / Rb (Left / Right Surround Back) is common, but Lc / Rc (Front Left / Right Center) and other speaker arrangements can also be assigned.

  However, a plurality of speaker arrangements are additionally expanded, so that it is necessary to provide a mixing coefficient for each speaker. The increase in the mixing factor directly affects the mixer logic, and increases the number of speakers that the 7.1-channel mixer logic has been expanded from before. Mixer must be provided.

  In order to solve this problem, mixing coefficients for expansion channels (2ch) are provided and mixing is performed independently, so that mixing of various expansion channels can be supported with the 7.1ch Mixer logic (currently maintained). .

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an outline of a disk reproducing apparatus 11 described in this embodiment. The disc playback apparatus 11 includes a disc drive unit 13 that is loaded with an optical disc 12 such as an HD-DVD and reads the recorded data.

  The data read from the optical disk 12 by the disk drive unit 13 is temporarily stored in the track buffer 14 and then supplied to the demultiplexer unit 15. The demultiplexer unit 15 separates the input data into a compressed video stream and two compressed audio streams as main audio and sub audio.

  Among these, the compressed video stream is composed of a plurality of video packs (V_PCK). This compressed video stream is stored in the video input buffer 16 and then supplied to the video decoder 17 for decoding. Then, the decoded video data is supplied to a D / A (digital / analog) converter 18 and converted into analog video data, and then taken out to the outside via a video output terminal 19. It is used for video display on a monitor.

  The first compressed audio stream that is the main audio separated by the demultiplexer unit 15 is composed of a plurality of main audio packs (MA_PCK). The compressed audio stream is stored in the main audio input buffer 20 and then supplied to the main audio decoder 21 to decode the main audio. The main audio output from the main audio decoder 21 is stored in the main audio buffer 22 and then supplied to the mixing processing unit 23.

  Furthermore, the second compressed audio stream that is sub-audio separated by the demultiplexer unit 15 is composed of a plurality of sub-audio packs (SA_PCK). The compressed audio stream is stored in the sub audio input buffer 24 and then supplied to the Sub Audio decoder 25 to decode the sub audio. The sub audio output from the Sub Audio decoder 25 is stored in the sub audio buffer 26 and then supplied to the mixing processing unit 23.

  The disc playback apparatus 11 also includes an audio input unit 27. The audio input unit 27 acquires uncompressed (PCM: pulse code modulation) audio data (EF_PCM) as effect audio from, for example, a removable information recording medium or a network server. The uncompressed audio data (EF_PCM) acquired by the audio input unit 27 is stored in the effect buffer 28 and then supplied to the mixing processing unit 23.

  Further, the mixing coefficient set in the coefficient setting unit 29 is supplied to the mixing processing unit 23. This mixing coefficient is acquired from the optical disc 11 at the time of reproduction, for example, and is used when the main audio, the sub audio, and the effect audio are mixed in the mixing processing unit.

  The audio mixed by the mixing processing unit is converted into a transmission form compliant with, for example, the HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) standard by the interface unit 30 and then extracted to the outside through the digital audio output terminal 31. For example, an AV amplifier having a function of decoding a compressed audio stream is connected to the digital audio output terminal 31 so that high-quality audio reproduction with multiple channels can be performed.

  The video decoder 17 and the mixing processing unit 23 are controlled by the synchronization control unit 32 in terms of video output timing and audio output timing. Thus, finally, the displayed video and the reproduced audio are controlled to be synchronized.

  Here, in the disk reproducing apparatus 11, all the operations including the above-described reproducing operation are comprehensively controlled by the control unit 33. The control unit 33 incorporates a CPU (central processing unit) and the like, receives operation information from the operation unit 34 or operation information sent from the remote controller 35 and received by the light receiving unit 36, and the operation content is Each part is controlled to be reflected.

  In this case, the control unit 33 uses the memory unit 37. The memory unit 37 mainly includes a ROM (read only memory) storing a control program to be executed by the CPU of the control unit 33, a RAM (random access memory) for providing a work area to the CPU, And a non-volatile memory for storing various setting information and control information.

  FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration diagram in the present embodiment. FIG. 3 shows a processing flow. First, Video / Audio data, a mixing coefficient, an expansion channel mixing coefficient (mixing coefficient having no dependency on speaker arrangement), and the like are recorded on the disk 12. When there is a reproduction start request from the user (step S301), the player reads the mixing coefficient and the expansion channel mixing coefficient from the disc 12 (steps S302 and S303) and mixes the main audio / sub audio / effect audio. The mixing coefficient read from the previous disk is set for the part (29a). Similarly, the extended channel mixing coefficient is set for the extended channel mixing processing unit (29b). After the setting of the mixing coefficient is completed, the Video / Audio data is read from the disk 12 (Step S305) and separated into Video data, Main Audio data, and Sub Audio data in the Demux unit 15 (Step S306). The separated main audio data and sub audio data are decoded by the decoders 21 and 25 (step S307-), and audio data is output (step S312). At this time, the audio data of Main Audio includes extended channel audio (Lc / Rc audio in the example in the figure). After that, the Sub Audio / Effect Audio mixing process (23a) is performed based on the mixing coefficient for 5.1 Audio of Main Audio, and the Sub Audio / Effect Audio mixing process is performed based on the expanded channel mixing coefficient for the extended channel sound. (23b) is performed.

  As described above, the extended channel sound can be mixed without performing the channel rearrangement process by adopting the configuration having the independent mixing coefficient independent of the speaker arrangement and the independent mixing processing unit.

  As described above, the mixing coefficient recorded on the disc and the mixing coefficient that does not depend on the speaker arrangement for the expansion channel are used, and the main audio 5.1ch audio is mixed with the SubAudio / Effect Audio based on the mixing coefficient, and the expanded channel For the audio of, Sub Audio // Effect Audio mixing processing is performed based on the extended channel mixing coefficient. As described above, the extended channel sound can be mixed without performing the channel rearrangement process by adopting the configuration having the independent mixing coefficient independent of the speaker arrangement and the independent mixing processing unit.

  In the conventional mixing process, the channel rearrangement process has to be performed. However, mixing audio can be generated without performing the channel rearrangement process by separately performing the mixing for the extended 2ch audio.

  A Sub / Effect Audio mixing coefficient setting parameter for extended 2ch audio is provided, and the extended 2ch audio is mixed independently from the output of the Main Audio decoder to output the mixed audio. By providing a mixing coefficient (2ch) for the extension channel and independently mixing, it is possible to support mixing of various extension channels while maintaining the 7.1ch Mixer logic (currently maintained).

  Conventionally, a player has been required to mix and output a plurality of sounds such as Main Audio / Sub Audio / Effect Audio. However, the above mixing coefficient is a mixing coefficient for Lb / Rb, and when performing the mixing process on the audio for which the expansion channel is assigned to Lc / Rc, the channel rearrangement process is performed once and the Lc / Rc audio is mixed. The components must be distributed to appropriate channels (for example, Lc / Rc → L / C / R) and then mixed (see the conventional example in FIG. 4).

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, a method for performing the mixing process without performing the channel rearrangement process has been presented. Furthermore, as an accompanying effect, the channel rearrangement process can be deleted.

  As an effect, in the conventional mixing process, the channel rearrangement process had to be performed, but by mixing the extended 2ch audio separately, it is possible to generate the mixed audio without performing the channel rearrangement process. Become.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range which does not deviate from the summary, it can implement in various modifications.
Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the above-described embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements according to different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of a disk reproducing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Functional block diagram of the embodiment. The flowchart of the process of the embodiment. The block block diagram which shows a conventional structure.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Separator, 2 ... Multi-channel audio decoder, 3 ... 2-channel audio decoder, 4 ... Multi-channel output terminal, 5 ... 2-channel audio output terminal, 6 ... Reconstructor, 11 ... Disc playback device, 12 ... Optical disc, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Disk drive part, 14 ... Track buffer, 15 ... Demultiplexer part, 16 ... Video input buffer, 17 ... Video decoder, 18 ... D / A conversion part, 19 ... Video output terminal, 20 ... Main audio | voice input buffer, 21 ... Main Audio decoder, 22 ... Main audio buffer, 23 ... Mixing processing unit, 24 ... Sub audio input buffer, 25 ... Sub Audio decoder, 26 ... Sub audio buffer, 27 ... Audio input unit, 28 ... Effect buffer, 29 ... Coefficient Setting unit, 30 ... interface unit, 31 ... digital audio output terminal, 32 ... synchronization control unit, 33 ... Control unit 34 ... Operation unit 35 ... Remote controller 36 ... Light receiving unit 37 ... Memory unit 51 ... Separation unit 52 ... Multi-channel audio decoder 53 ... 2-channel audio decoder 54 ... Multi-channel output terminal 55 ... 2 channel audio output terminal, 56 ... HDMI receiver, 57 ... HDMI transmitter.

Claims (4)

Read the mixing coefficient for the expansion channel from outside,
Set this read mixing coefficient,
An audio output method characterized by performing an extended mixing process using the set mixing coefficient. Read the mixing coefficient for the Sub / Effect Audio expansion channel for 2ch audio from the outside,
Set this read mixing coefficient,
An audio output method characterized by performing an extended mixing process using the set mixing coefficient. Read the mixing coefficient for the Sub / Effect Audio expansion channel for 2ch audio from the outside,
Set this read mixing coefficient,
An audio output method characterized in that, by using the set mixing coefficient, the extended 2ch audio is mixed independently from the output of the Main Audio decoder, and mixed audio is output. A reading unit for reading the mixing coefficient for the extension channel from the outside;
A setting unit for setting the read mixing coefficient;
An audio output device comprising: a mixing processing unit that performs an extended mixing process using the set mixing coefficient.

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